Currently, typical ways used for navigating between the various pages of an electronic book in an electronic book reader include the use of scroll bars, and virtual flipping of pages. It should be noted that the use of scroll bars for navigating between the various pages of an electronic book differs from a typical manner of reading a physical book in various aspects, especially in relation to user experience. In addition, the virtual flipping of pages is merely one typical manner of reading a physical book. There are other manners of navigating between the various pages of a physical book which are currently not replicated when navigating between the various pages of an electronic book, and this causes the navigation between the various pages of an electronic book to be a less intuitive experience for users, which consequently affects how the users comprehend the content of the electronic book.
The less intuitive experience for users is because interaction with the printed material in physical books is a subtle and complicated process for users. Typically, content in physical books is presented in a sequential order, with continuity of content running from page to page, and there may also be a hierarchical structure in the material presented (as the material is organized into chapters, sections, subsections, etc.) where related content is grouped together in a logical manner.
Research has shown that a typical human being inputs data in a sequential manner, and when a book is read from the beginning to the end in a sequential fashion, the brain subsequently recreates a framework of the book contents after reviewing the contents of the book. However, it is quite normal when one does not read a book (input the material involved) from beginning to end because either only an overview of the book is sought (browsing), or only a specific portion(s) of the content are of interest to the user.
Two basic steps are subconsciously carried out by the user during the browsing process. Firstly, the user obtains a cursory view of the contents of the book. Secondly, the user formulates a perception of approximate positions where the content(s) of interest to the user is located so that the user may (a) return to look for them later when desired, and (b) have an understanding of the framework of the book. When browsing the book, many forms of inter-page navigation may be carried out by the user when perusing through the various pages of the book and, together with the inherent sequential order of the pages in the book as published/bound, the user is able to conveniently obtain an understanding of the book.
When using currently available methods of browsing through pages of an electronic book using an electronic book reader as mentioned earlier, it may be necessary to use either an input device or physical touch (in an instance when touch screens are used) to navigate between pages, where hand movements/gestures are necessary to effect the browsing of the pages. Fine control of the hand or fingers may be necessary to effect the browsing of the pages. Such a process would likely tax the user's short term memory ability, which detrimentally affects the user's ability to formulate a perception of approximate positions (the framework) where the content(s) of interest is located.
In view of the aforementioned reason, many people still prefer to hold a physical book in their hands, compared to reading an electronic book using an electronic book reader. This may pertain more to books which are constantly referred to for information compared to books which are consumed from start to end. Hence, it would be desirable if there was a method to read an electronic book using an electronic book reader which would more closely replicate the reading experience of a physical book and is correspondingly able to aid the user's ability to formulate a perception of approximate positions (the framework) where the content(s) of interest is located.